For the last couple of years I've been resisting making any New Year's resolutions but regardless of that some sort of resolutions and plans seem to spontaneously emerge in my life demanding me to embrace them. In late December I wrote these words on the first page of a new art journal: "Work hard. Love life!" thinking that would be a nice theme for upcoming year. But with the beginning of 2016. I realized there is no way I could work hard or love life if I don't take a short break as soon as possible. Last few months of 2015. have been extremely stressful for me and left me feeling sad. So I decided to take 3 days off and go on mini vacation later this week. For someone who is: a)very restless with difficulty to relax and b)chronic workaholic (and not proud about it) taking even a short break can be pretty challenging but it's something I desperately need to do right now. So, yes I'll be working hard and loving life in 2016. BUT FIRST VACATION :)

scanned pages from my art journal.

My first "serious" resolution for 2016. is : STAY INSIDE OF YOUR COMFORT ZONE AND THINK INSIDE OF THE BOX.

Sounds like odd resolution, right? We've been constantly encouraged to "step outside of our comfort zones" and to "think outside of the box" because that's what creative people do and that's where the "real life begins" and so on.But, you know what? First of all, I'm so bored with hearing such phrases and I'm also tired of constantly challenging myself and putting myself into very uncomfortable positions just for the sake of self-development or potential progress. I'm more than ready to start living my life inside of my comfort zone, doing what I'm comfortable withand I'm ready to start acknowledging and honoring my strengths instead of continuing to push myself into often stressful situations. I'm tired of wasting my energy trying to become someone I'm not or someone I believe I could become rather than respecting the person who I already am.

But, you know what else, I'm super ready to start thinking inside of the box too. With experience I've learned that if you truly want to be creative and come up with unique ideas you first need to set some kind of limitations for yourself. It's bit paradoxical but it works. As a traditional artist I'm constantly thinking inside of the box, or more precisely I'm thinking inside of the rectangle or square format of paper I'm painting on. All of my compositions have to be able to work inside of those very specific, very limiting parameters. Generally speaking, whether you are a traditional or a contemporary artist, if you intend to show your work in let's say a gallery or museum space aren't you literally thinking inside of the box- what is a gallery space other than a room, a big box of sorts?

scanned pages from my art journal.

My second resolution for 2016. is: WHATEVER YOU CHOOSE TO DO, DO IT WITH CONFIDENCE AND CONVICTION. CREATE FROM THE HEART, SPEAK FROM THE HEART AND BE UNAPOLOGETIC ABOUT IT.

This resolution ties in well with the first one because one of the things I'm really comfortable with is to be introspective, deal with my deepest emotions and then bring them out to surface in form of abstract paintings. I do it with confidence, out of conviction and I intend to do it more in 2016. with more intensity. More and more, I feel like my creative process is starting to resemble metaphorical descent into the underworld. I feel as if every time I start a new painting I leap into abyss, dive into my inner world, into my subconscious to face my deepest, most hidden desires and fears, then bring them back to surface to transform them through process of painting. It feels like, in some way, I die a little and then get re-born every time I finish a new art piece. It's very intense but rewarding process I want to develop more regardless of the results.

scanned pages from my art journal.

Other art related plans for this year are to continue to work on Ink Flower Garden project (duh), to start making more gifs and short animations and write more to improve my English. And also to just MAKE HONEST ART because at the end of the day that's what truly matters to me.